Despite the fact that the largest game publishers have left the Russian market, video games are still subject to intellectual property. There is a copyright holder – there is a law protecting their rights, IT lawyer Anna Ryazanova told socialbites.ca.
“No legal changes have yet been made regarding the legalization of digital entertainment piracy in Russia. At the same time, there was a judicial precedent of denial of copyright protection by a copyright holder from a “non-hostile” country. This is the resonant decision of the Arbitration Court of the Kirov Region in the Peppa Pig case.
He denied the claim, citing the hostile origins of the British company. By analogy, it seems arguable about the impossibility of bringing game hackers to justice. But the appeal protected the rights of the foreign company and brought the violator to justice.”
The lawyer recalled that on the territory of the Russian Federation, equal protection of intellectual property is guaranteed, and their piracy is punishable, regardless of where the games were developed.
“There can be civil, administrative or even criminal liability. The suspension of sales and the withdrawal of publishers from the market does not give the Russian gaming community a basis for piracy, so you should definitely not relax, ”says Ryazanova.
He suggested not trying to save money or circumvent restrictions by installing pirated copies of games, but instead finding ways to purchase digital versions as an alternative, or beware of physical copies of games shipped to Russia under the parallel import program.
Formerly socialbites.ca saidHow to shop in mobile games.